Speaker, Attorney General Shoot Down EOC request for MP Salary List

Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka have directed the clerk of Parliament, Adolf Mwesigye not to provide documents relating to the salaries of members of parliament to the Ministry of Public Service and to the Equal Opportunity Commission.

The Ministry of Public Service and the Equal Opportunity Commission recently wrote to the Clerk of Parliament asking him to provide them with documents showing the actual salaries of each Member of Parliament.

Speaker Anita Among however noted on Tuesday that parliament is an independent body and MPs are not government employees and she sees no reason why the ministry public service the equal opportunity Commission should interest themselves in the salary paid to every MP.

The speaker said that the Equal Opportunity Commission does not have the authority to investigate and even to determine the salaries of MPs as that is not its job. 

Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka told parliament that he is going to brief the equal opportunity commission leadership on their mandate and their responsibilities so that they should stop wasting their time.

 “The mandate of the equal opportunities commission is restricted to persons who are marginalized on the basis of gender, age, disability and other reasons created by history, tradition or custom….they need to maintain the level where they are supposed to be.” Kiryowa averred.

The Kira municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Ngaanda  told parliament that there is  no reason as to why the equal opportunity commission shouldn’t be allowed to know the exert salary paid to every Mp and minister  so that they can compare them with the salaries of other employees in order to see if there is fairness.

However, the Attorney General has emphasized that its not the job of the equal opportunity commission to compare salaries because it was not established to do that.